How we plan to lift 100m Nigerians out of poverty — FG

The Federal Government said it would lift 100 millions Nigerians out of poverty through the planting of trees, waste recycling and setting up and equipping vocational centres, which would be done in collaboration with foreign partners.
This is even as it ruled out the option of distributing motorcycles, grinding machines and generators, describing the tactics as temporal empowerment.
The Head of Inter-Ministerial Expert Technical Committee on the Coordination of Inter- Governmtal Projects under Federal Ministry Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Bassey Etim-Ikang, stated this yesterday in Abuja, at the end of a 2-day meeting.
Etim-Ikang, who is the Director, Human Resources, explained that the committee would compile its report and forward it to the Committee of 9 Ministers in charge in the implementation of the project.
He said: “We are looking at the hanging fruits. Different ministries have core mandate. Most of are not fully actualised.
“The time frame for this inter-ministerial committee is from now till 2023. But you know that when we say 2023, you know that Mr President had said 10 years, meaning it is going to be continued
“We have climate change adaptation as a project. What we do is to form a cluster. And in any cluster we have a link MDAs.
“Climate change is not rainfall and sunshine. We look at it from the environment that we can provide an alternative.
“We are looking at waste to wealth that we can also use to address power and other. We are looking at empowering our people when it comes to vocational centres.
“We have looked at cottage industries along economic corridors. We have areas with surplus fruits, soybeans, cassava and palm oil. And then we are looking at the seasonal period; when it is harvest time we consume. When there is planting time we lack.
“We believe that we can do agro processing. If we do agro processing in the 6 geopolitical zones we are absorbing people into jobs. And with that we are stimulating the farmers to go and produce more because the farmers know that when he produces, he has a terminal point to sell.
“So, taking people out of it is not about giving tricycle and grinding machine. It is a temporal empowerment. We have all looked at that.
“Over the years, that has been done even by the politicians, and it has not taken us anywhere. So, we are looking at something that is sustainable. We want to engage the community.
Meanwhile, a consultant to the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter governmental Affairs, Professor Babatunde Bernard, explained that the project would be fully implemented.
He said that with the calibre of ministers and the support of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum, state governments would be ready to dole out lands for projects.
He said: “There would a cohesion and coordination and execution.
‘Contrary to some of the problem they have is that when they go to the states and ask for a land to plant trees it takes for ever. They will claim they don’t have land.
“In this inter ministerial coordination, under this platform, the representative of the ministers and governors forum, if we agree that we want to do afforestation by the time we get to states, land would be ready for them”